What do the GRAMMY Awards and music educators have in common? It might seem strange to think about big stars like Rihanna, Justin Timberlake and Beyonce taking music lessons before they were famous, but trust us – most musicians, at one point or another, had the close instruction and encouragement from a music teacher. And now, music educators nationwide will get the recognition they deserve!
During February’s telecast of the 55th Grammy Awards, President/CEO of The Recording Academy and GRAMMY Foundation Neil Portnow, Honorary Board Chair Ryan Seacrest and multi-Grammy-winning artist Justin Timberlake announced that the GRAMMY Foundation and The Recording Academy are partnering to recognize music teachers with their very own GRAMMY Music Educator Award.
Chosen from a group of 10 finalists, the winner of the award will be announced during GRAMMY Week 2014. The prize: A trip to Los Angeles to accept the award, a seat at the Grammy Awards 2014 and a $10,000 honorarium to boot.
While the nomination and selection process for a Grammy Award is quite complex, it’s much easier to define what makes an amazing music educator. To us, that means qualities like passion, and the innate ability to guide and mentor. These priceless attributes are the reasons we shake our oh-so-lovely first lesson jitters and conquer stage fright much like the pros performing at the GRAMMYs every year.
Our instructors enrich our lives every day with their knowledge of musical practices and theories, and gift us with a lifetime of music thanks to their dedication and commitment to us as their students. While nominations for this new Music Educator Award are restricted to teachers in public and private schools (as opposed to private music lessons), we think that each and every TakeLessons teacher deserves to win. We can’t get enough of the stories and feedback we receive from our awesome teachers and students, and it proves the positive impact that music can make! Here are a few stories we’ve heard recently:
- Singing teacher Adam P. of South Saint Paul, MN, let us know that his 14-year-old student Jackson entered an X-Factor-like competition (L-Factor), and after just six lessons claimed the first place title of L-Factor Champion!
- Belleville, MI guitar teacher Trevor E. shared that 45-year-old student Shawn was able to play a song within 30 minutes of his first lesson!
- Minneapolis piano teacher Elizabeth V. raved about student Francisco, who was recently accepted into McNally Smith College of Music! Elizabeth dedicated herself to honing Francisco’s talents to help him get into this competitive music program.
Although private instructors are not eligible for the award, they continue to make remarkable impacts on their students’ lives day in and day out. They each deserve a GRAMMY in my book!
To nominate a teacher for the first Music Educator Award, click here. The deadline to nominate is April 15th, 2013!
If you had the opportunity to nominate your TakeLessons teacher for the 56th Annual GRAMMY Awards, who would you nominate and why?
– Dylan M., TakeLessons staff member and blogger
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Photo by skinwon
Suzy S.